Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
11/19/99
Contacts:
Donald Lewis, Extension Entomology, (515) 294-1101,
drlewis@iastate.edu
Elaine Edwards, Extension Communication Systems, (515)
294-5168, eedwards@iastate.edu
Yard and Garden Column for the Week Beginning Nov. 26
Multi-legged Marvels of the Garden
By Donald Lewis
Extension entomologist
Iowa State University Extension
There must be a rule somewhere in the psyche of human thought that says the more legs an animal has the less adorable we will find it to be. Think about it. We love people and orangutans (two legs) and we go gaga over cats, dogs and guinea pigs (four legs). By the time we get to insects with six legs revulsion starts to set in, and spiders (eight legs) are commonly feared and hated. Lobsters, shrimp and crabs with 10 leglike appendages are ignored unless thought of as food.
By extension of this rule it is easy to see why centipedes are despised. Centipedes are flat, elongate animals with 30 OR MORE legs. Only millipedes top centipedes in the leg competition. Fortunately for the millipedes, they generally conceal the number of legs by having short legs that tuck up under the body and remain out of sight. Centipedes on the other hand have obvious legs stretched proudly to the sides for everyone to see. And to detest.
The Centipede Assortment
When (and if) Iowans think about centipedes they probably picture the house centipede. This relatively puny species is up to 1 1/2 inches long and has 15 pairs of very long, slender legs. Each fragile-looking leg is almost equal to the length of the body and is encircled by dark and white bands. The body is brown to grayish-yellow with three dark stripes.
The house centipede is only the tip of the assortment. There are more than 2,500 diverse species of centipedes in the world. Most are small but a few, especially in the tropics, may be 10 inches or more in length. All centipedes are terrestrial, but they live in moist, confined microhabitats.
The body of a centipede consists of numerous flattened segments. The number of segments ranges from 15 to 177 but is always an odd number. That is odd.
Each body segment has one pair of legs except for the last two and the first segment behind the head. Centipede legs may be short as in the case of common outdoor centipedes found plodding under mulch or leaf litter or in rotten wood. Centipedes with long, thread like legs (such as the house centipede) scamper very quickly through open spaces.
Centipede or Millipede?
Both centipedes and millipedes are wormlike, multi-legged animals (and therefore, detested). Both are frequently noticed in the garden or house. Telling the two apart is fairly easy if you allow yourself to get close enough to count the number of legs present on a mid-body segment. Millipedes, the harmless "recyclers" of garden mulch, have two pairs of legs per body segment, twice the number of legs found on centipedes.
For both millipedes and centipedes the literal translation of the name exaggerates the number of legs. Common centipedes fall short of 100 legs (centi as is century means hundred) and millipedes don't really have 1,000 legs (milli as in millennium means thousand).
Centipedes are predators. They feed on a variety of small animals such as earthworms and insects. By some accounts centipedes are ferocious and they will eat or attempt to eat anything that does not eat them first. That includes each other. The really large centipedes may feed on small mammals such as mice, and occasionally on small birds or reptiles.
The legs on the first body segment are large poisonous fangs that are used to capture prey. Centipedes are primarily nocturnal and wander at night in search of food. A captured prey is paralyzed by venom from the jaws before it is devoured.
The fear many people have toward centipedes is generally unwarranted. First, centipedes are beneficial and their role as predators should be appreciated. Second, centipedes are shy and will use their agile, fast running abilities to retreat from people when possible. Biting may occur when a centipede is stepped on, picked up or otherwise restrained and threatened.
Bites that penetrate the skin are not likely with small centipedes such as the house centipede. The bite of large centipedes can cause pain and discomfort, but serious complication or death is very rare.
Centipedes and millipedes are growing in popularity as terrarium pets. Some of the larger centipedes make spectacular display animals. Keeping a pet centipede is not too difficult. After buying your centipede from a pet store, bring it home and keep it in a glass or plastic box with a tight fitting lid to prevent escape. Place vermiculite mixed with peat moss and sand in the bottom and keep a constant supply of water in a very shallow dish (to prevent drowning). Mist the cage daily to keep the humidity level high. Food for pet centipedes is usually crickets or mealworms obtained from the pet store or bait shop.
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